Visas and national identity numbers

In general, all foreign nationals coming to Norway need a visa, although there are many exceptions. The other important offical step you'll need to take is to obtain a national identity number (called a fødselsnummer or personnummer in Norwegian) or a temporary version of this, called a D-number.

You can apply for either a D-number or a national identity number at the Trondheim tax office, but plan for it to take some time to get one. Depending upon the time of year and the tax office's workload, you may have to wait several weeks or more. Because you can't open a bank account without an ID number, newcomers should make certain they have enough cash to cover expenses until they obtain one of these all-important numbers.